The new ‘mystery man’ rumoured to be in the life of heiress Petra Ecclestone has a colourful past as a luxury used car salesman, MailOnline can reveal.
Sam Palmer was yesterday photographed with 28-year-old Petra weeks after her acrimonious £5.5bn divorce from bullion dealer James Stunt.
Mr Palmer, 34, from Harlow, in Essex, is thought to have been introduced to the mother-of-three by his close friend Jay Rutland, the husband of Petra’s sister, Tamara.
He has grown close to Petra in recent months and a fortnight ago enjoyed a sunshine break to Dubai with Petra her sister Tamara and her husband.
Mr Palmer, an electrician turned car dealer, who also worked as a recruitment consultant in Australia, features extensively on businessman Mr Rutland’s Instagram.
The West Ham fan was pictured with his friend following a surfing lesson California, relaxing in a swimming pool in LA and more recently boarding a private jet to Las Vegas to watch Floyd Mayweather’s fight against Conor McGregor.
Male friend: The mystery new man rumoured to be in the life of Petra Ecclestone is former used car salesman Sam Palmer, whose family has an interesting background
Friends: Mr Palmer is close pals with Jay Rutland (pictured), husband of Petra’s sister, Tamara
‘Vegas we are coming for you’: Mr Palmer is believed to have been introduced to Petra by her brother-in-law Mr Rutland. The men are friends and in August took a private jet to Las Vegas
Influential friends: Mr Palmer, an electrician turned car dealer, who also worked as a recruitment consultant in Australia, features extensively on Mr Rutland’s Instagram account.
Ringside: Palmer, 28, from Harlow, in Essex, and his friend Tamara Ecclestone’s husband were pictured together watching Floyd Mayweather fight Conor McGregor in Las Vegas
Moving on? Petra was yesterday photographed with Mr Palmer as she struggled with a pram, weeks after her acrimonious £5.5bn divorce from bullion dealer James Stunt (pictured)
The men are believed to have been friends for a number of years. In May Tamara’s husband wished his ‘old pal’ a happy birthday with the message: ‘He may be a menace to society, but he is MY menace to society.’
But Petra’s father, billionaire ex-Formula One boss Bernie Eccelstone may be most interested in his family’s colourful past.
Both Petra and her sister Tamara are close to their father, who supported his eldest daughter throughout her High Court divorce battle with former husband Stunt.
So privately it may concern billionaire Mr Ecclestone, 87, to learn that his daughter’s new male friend has a father who was jailed for fraud and has a brother-in-law convicted of being part of an international cocaine smuggling ring.
Michael Palmer was locked up for ten months for fraud after he pocketed a £42,000 cheque that was supposed to buy a luxury Mercedes.
His car showroom in South Woodford, Essex, was also the scene of a violent attack involving violent underworld crime boss David Hunt.
Palmer and Rutland are believed to have been friends for a number of years. In May Tamara’s husband wished his ‘old pal’ a happy birthday with the message: ‘He may be a menace to society, but he is MY menace to society.’ Pictured: Palmer and Rutland surfing in California
Interesting family: Mr Palmer, pictured in a pool in LA with Mr Rutland, has colourful relatives. His father Michael was convicted of fraud and his brother-in-law was jailed for drug smuggling
Privately it may concern Petra’s billionaire father Bernie Ecclestone that Palmer’s father Michael was locked up for ten months for fraud after he pocketed a £42,000 cheque that was supposed to buy a luxury Mercedes. Picture: The friends at exclusive restaurant Zuma
It was this attack involving Hunt, and witnessesed by Michael Palmer, that led police to uncover the fraud.
Police had been trying to gather evidence of the attack involving Hunt when they bugged Michael Palmer’s car showroom and picked up him and a colleague discussing how defraud a finance company.
The Old Bailey heard how the colleague had an ‘inside man’ working at the Lombard Finance company, who could write out cheques to buy expensive, luxury cars.
Michael Palmer accepted a cheque for £42,702 in November 1998 and pretended to buy the car – but instead kept the money. The car he was also supposed to buy was never found.
The car dealer admitted obtaining a money transfer by deception and was jailed for ten months.
Michael Palmer, 69, was bugged by police as they tried to gather evidence against gangster Hunt.
Hunt was suspected of slashing the face of a petty criminal when the two men argued at the car showroom.
Hunt, who is known as the ‘Long Fella’ due to his 6ft 5in height, was under investigation by police for violence, fraud and corrupting police officers.
After being exposed as gangster in a 2010 Sunday Times article he tried to sue the newspaper for libel.
But the judge threw out the case and said it was ‘reasonable to describe the claimant [Hunt] as a violent and dangerous criminal and the head of an organised crime group implicated in murder, drug trafficking and fraud.’
Concern: Both Petra and her sister Tamara are close to their father, Bernie (pictured) who supported her throughout her difficult High Court divorce battle with former husband Stunt
Michael Palmer’s son Sam is believed to be close to his mother Sue Palmer, who owns a busy hair and beauty salon called The Stow in Harlow, Essex.
His sister Louise ran a nail bar in the town, which has now closed down.
Her husband – Sam Palmer’s brother-in-law – Anthony Wilson ran into trouble with the law when he was jailed for 12 years for being part of a major drug smuggling ring.
He was jailed after a joint operation between the National Crime Agency and the Dutch National Police after they smashed their plan to import three tons of cocaine from South America and smuggle into the UK.
Wilson, who has children with Palmer’s sister Louise, was arrested after 60kilos of cocaine were found in at a German port.
The gang had failed to collect the drugs from Antwerp port before it was transported to is final destination in Essen, Germany.
Police had been monitoring a café run by two Turkish brothers in Rotterdam who were part of smuggling operation and seized over £300,000 in cash, guns and more than 100 mobile phones. Wilson was arrested at his home in Harlow, Essex.
He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit a foreign drug trafficking offence in November 2015.
It is not known if mother of three Petra has any idea about the shady past of Palmer’s family. She has only been seen in public a couple of times since her divorce with businessman Mr Stunt was finalised in a five-minute court hearing last month.
The couple, who have three children together, had been back and forth to court this year as they geared up for a bitter fight over their estimated £5.5billion fortune.
But when they came before a judge it emerged they had agreed what will be one of Britain’s biggest ever divorce settlements.
At the heated court hearing earlier this year, a judge heard how Mr Stunt had been abusive, violent and took overdoses during his marriage to the glamorous heiress.
Mr Stunt, who runs an international gold bullion firm, assets were also said to include a wine collection worth up to £15million and two Chelsea properties worth up to £4million each, a previous hearing was told.
The couple are believed to have first met on a blind date in 2006. They married six years ago at a multi-million-pound ceremony at Odescalchi Castle, Rome, when they and 350 guests were entertained by an array of pop stars. They have three children together, aged between four and two.